Tupelo man faces state, federal charges

TUPELO – Jimmy Dale Bean, a former Tupelo Police employee, faces federal and state charges on apparently separate complaints.
A U.S. District Court notice Thursday set a June 25 plea hearing for Bean on a one-count “information,” which is a federal charge that comes from prosecutors, not a grand jury, usually after a defendant agrees to plead guilty.
Court records do not state what the 39-year-old Tupelo man is charged with, and it won’t become public until his plea is entered in court before Chief U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills.
However, his federal record shows the unusual addition of a U.S. Department of Justice official, Sheldon L. Beer, from the Civil Rights Criminal Division.
Bean is represented by attorney Stephen Travis Bailey of Tupelo.
In Lee County, Bean faces indictment accusing him of three counts of embezzlement from New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Plantersville.
Bean pleaded not guilty at his April 10 arraignment and is free on $75,000 bond. He is represented by Tupelo attorney Rob Laher.
The indictment claims he wrongly withdrew more than $500 cash three times from an ATM in May, July and August 2012.
He allegedly did so with money “entrusted to his care or possession” by virtue of his relationship with the church.
His state case is likely to come up during the May term of circuit court, which begins April 29.
This week, judges will preside over two days of pleas from indicted individuals in advance of the court term.
patsy.brumfield@journalinc.com